Possibilities
by EE's Skysong
Summary: Three OddSissi drabbles. One depressed but hopeful, one just plain depressed, and one that's pure silliness. 'Then I dismissed the thought as idle fancy. I myself was in love, and it certainly wasn't with him.' Two swears. Formerly Kissing Isn't Overrated


Disclaimer: "Beautiful, isn't it?" "They're disgusting!" "No, they're men."

(An: Um... this is a three-part fic, basically If I Wrote C:L. Yeah. This first one is set during the dance in the season finale, slightly AU-ish. The second is set after the end of season two, and the third is set a while after "A Fine Mess". Does everyone know what a bucket hat is? It's basically what it sounds like... like what TK wears in the second season of Digimon. Coolest hats ever, by the way.)

_Last Choice_

My date was wearing a pink dress. Not carnation pink or hot pink; more like watermelon bubble gum pink, the type with a smell that makes itself known even when the person chewing it is ten feet away.

Myself, I was in a purple tuxedo, which, if you ask me, was very trendy. Of course, considering Sissi's sniff when she saw me, she didn't think so, but she was in a pink dress!

Not that there was anything wrong with the dress. She actually looked very nice, and if she had worn it for me I might've been able to appreciate it.

But it hadn't been worn for me; it had been for Ulrich, just like my tuxedo was for Sam.

"Well?" I said, offering her my arm.

A faint look of disgust crossed her face, then she sighed, putting her hand on my elbow.

"Try not to make your smile look so fake. Think of it as... acting practice."

Sissi sighed as we walked inside. "I don't think this is worth it. I have to pretend I actually _like_ you."

"I think we can agree to disagree for one night," I replied. "After all, we both have a personal interest, don't we?"

She glanced at where Ulrich was standing with Yumi and her face hardened. "Yes, we do." I had to resist the urge to glance over at where Sam was chatting with William.

"Keep it cool, Ms. Delmas," I said. "Come on, I'll get you some punch." I glanced at her, as she was showing a distinct reluctance to be seen with me in public. "Come on, this only has to be painful if you make it that way."

She sighed. "I know." Sissi followed me over to the table, where I poured her a drink.

"Smile. We're doing this for the common good!"

Sissi sipped her punch and studied me over it. "Why are you helping me?" she asked, after a moment. "This isn't going to help you any... I mean, you hate me, and you like Ulrich and Yumi together."

"Yes, well..." I shrugged uncomfortably. "You're not so bad, you know? And... I guess my feelings for Sam override my better judgement."

She looked me over with a small sneer. "I suppose we understand each other, then."

It was hard to put up with a girl like that. But, as I reminded myself, I was doing this for Sam. As if it hadn't been bad enough she'd dumped me, she was going out with that pretty boy, William! And Sissi... come on, she was Sissi. She would do anything to get Ulrich's attention, and looking like she was taken was a proven boy attractor.

The music started. I bowed a little with a smile that couldn't help being mocking. "Shall we dance, my lady?"

She rolled her eyes and stepped out onto the dance floor. Dancing with her to the fast songs was ok, since you didn't have to touch for those. But the slow songs... slow-dancing with Sissi was _weird_, all right? It wasn't bad, though. Just, like I said, I would have liked it more if she was doing it for me instead of Ulrich. She probably would have been less stiff if I had been doing it for her instead of Sam, as well. But we were both in love with other people, so what's a boy to do?

O-o-O-o-O

When we sat down on the side of the room, I caught Odd looking at Sam because he thought I wasn't watching. I half-wished he would look at me like that- his expression was so unlike him, soft and sweet. The look of a boy in love. Then I dismissed the thought as idle fancy. I myself was in love, and it certainly wasn't with him!

He glanced at me, realized I saw, and blushed slightly. I shrugged. "If you're still in love with Sam, why did you date every girl in Kadic before settling on me?" All right, so it was a bit of an accusation, but really, it wasn't such a surprise that we were each other's last choice.

He scuffed his foot on the floor without meeting my eyes. "Mostly to reassure myself that I still had it with girls... but also to see if she would notice, yeah. She didn't, of course... I don't think she really cares."

I twisted a strand of hair around my finger, looking at Ulrich and Yumi. I had to look away as he pulled her close. "This was kind of pointless, wasn't it?" I mumbled.

"I guess," Odd agreed, even quieter than me. "Sissi..."

I turned to face him. I'm not sure if there was anything more awkward than meeting his eyes. It wasn't a bad awkward, it was the kind that comes before... before two people who think they don't care kiss.

It wasn't one of those things you think about, it just happened. I'm not sure who kissed who- we moved toward each other at the same time, his hand traveling to my waist and mine to his neck. I could feel his pulse under my fingers, confirming that he was as shocked as I was about this. We had come to this dance together out of mutual desperation, not out of any kind of attraction... but kissing him was nice. He was good at it, and it wasn't that I didn't like him. It was just that one had to keep up appearances. One can't hate a boy one day and then admit to thinking he's cute and being jealous of his amorous ways the next... unless, of course, one is kissed by the boy in question.

We backed off by silent agreement at the same time, goggling at each other as though we'd just met.

"I'm certain there's a reason I shouldn't want to do that again," Odd gasped after a second, "but it's left me at the moment."

"Me too," I replied, and we would have kissed again if Jim hadn't showed up. Our heads got close enough, at least.

The gym teacher/possibly every other job title in the world crossed his arms and cleared his throat. "Delmas, Della Robbia..."

Both of us went red; to have someone else acknowledge what we'd done was almost as bad as being caught doing it. We looked at each other, then at Jim. "Sorry, sir," we stammered.

He eyed us. "If I didn't think that you would be the least likely pair to do that again, I'd escort you out." He said "escort" in a way that suggested it wouldn't be pleasant and would probably involve a lecture and Daddy being informed. "But since it's you two, I'll let you stay... for now." He glared at us a second longer, then walked off.

We looked back at each other. Odd was still touching me, which made him saying, "If everyone else thinks we're doomed to fail, why aren't we going to?" less offensive.

I shrugged. "Della Robbia, I don't know. I don't care, either." This time, _I_ kissed _him_ for sure.

_My Problem_

We were stuck, well and truly, and I had to admit, I was scared. Terrified, if you want the honest truth. Despite my jokes about it, after nearly drowning at the Hermitage, water scared me. I had pulled a Jeremie and skipped every gym class where there would be swimming.

It was raining, absolutely pouring, and Sissi and I were stuck in the sewers. X.A.N.A. had been going all out since escaping from Lyoko, materializing monsters left and right and doing whatever crazy scheme it thought would stop us.

Right now, a Krabe was marching atop the manhole above us. I could hear it skittering back and forth. Sissi and I were sitting on the ladder rungs, watching the water rise. It wasn't rising quickly, even X.A.N.A. couldn't affect that, but it was already halfway to the top. If we tried to escape, the Krabe would attack. I had nothing to fight it with, and the last thing I wanted was for Sissi to get hurt. We couldn't swim, either; the current was way too strong, rushing to God knew where.

Our only hopes were pinned on Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita, and from Jeremie's report, they were in a jam of their own.

"Odd?" Sissi whispered. "Are we going to die?"

"I hope not..." The two of us were sitting on the rung second from the top, hanging onto the first one. She looked as if she wanted to start crying and I moved closer. "We'll be fine, trust me."

Sissi wiped at her eyes. I could tell that the last thing she wanted was for me to see her cry. "How do you know?"

I looked down at the swirling water. "I don't," I admitted. "But I trust my friends."

"Why? What can your silly little group do for us now?" She sounded angry, but I knew that was just so she wouldn't seem weak in front of me. Sissi was proud like that.

I sighed. "It's a long story."

Sissi glanced at the water, then at me, her eyebrows raised. "We're not going anywhere- not with that _thing _around, anyway."

"It's going to sound crazy..."

"Odd, it's been raining for six hours straight, there's a robot thing that wants to blast us to bits up there, and I'm stuck in a sewer. With you, no less!"

Under other circumstances, her tone would have riled me into a verbal sparring match, but this time it just led me to explain.

O-o-O-o-O

He had a point with the "it's going to sound crazy" bit. His story about a virtual world, a guy who could go back in time, and Jeremie's girlfriend all seemed completely insane... but it did kind of make sense. It explained why they constantly needed favors from me, and why they were always going to the infirmary, and why Odd had appeared to have a crush on his cousin at one point (who also kept switching last names).

When he finished, I could dangle my feet in the water (not that I did, but I could) and he was looking at me with a sheepish expression. "I knew you wouldn't believe me," he mumbled, looking away.

"Unfortunately, I do... which just exacerbates how crazy this situation is, to make something like that seem normal."

He looked at me again, this cute little smirk on his face, probably about 'exacerbates'. I studied him for a moment, frowning, and before he could ask "What?", I kissed him. I guess that being in a situation where you're almost definitely going to die kind of removes all of the inhibitions involved with something like that. My social status and my pride seemed really silly reasons to deny that I liked him now. And if I was going to die, I was going to die smiling, dammit!

When I backed off, I felt myself blush at the look of abject shock he was wearing. This was annoying. "Um..." he said.

"Before you can go forming your own conclusions, I like you, Odd. I have always liked you but it's only recently that I've started to get over Ulrich enough to even consider you... and I think you're funny." I added that last to keep him shocked a little longer.

Odd gaped. He was spared having to answer by his cell phone ringing. Surprised that he even still had it, I watched him take it out of his pocket. "Jeremie?" he asked almost before he had it open. "What? Aelita's in the tower? No, we're fi-!"

Before he could finish that syllable, a wall of white light came towards us. I felt Odd's lips against mine again as it washed over me.

O-o-O-o-O

And then I was back in the cafeteria. It was mashed potatoes day, but they didn't seem as appetizing. I could still taste Sissi.

"I think that went well, considering," said Jeremie. "We actually pulled something off without doing it by the skin of our teeth."

"I think it was a waste," I snapped. "You didn't have to RTTP, Einstein."

Jeremie blinked at me. He knew about my aquaphobia, was sympathetic to it, even. "But-"

"But nothing!"

"What happened in the sewer, Odd?" Aelita asked, eyeing me with that all-too-knowing look of hers.

"Like I said, nothing." My voice cracked as I rested my head on the table. "Absolutely nothing."

Jeremie was wearing his best confused face, I could hear it in his voice. "And..."

"And _that _is my problem, Einstein."

"Hello, Ulrich," Sissi crooned, as I knew she was going to. Sometimes, having foreknowledge of a day was handy. In this case, it wasn't. It hurt.

O-o-O-o-O

I eyed Odd skeptically. He had his head on the table and was looking absolutely disraught. I felt sorry for him and wanted to know what was wrong, but I had an image to upkeep.. "What's the matter, Della Robbia? Finally realized how pathetic you are?"

To my surprise, his answer wasn't a cutting retort. Rather, it was just "Yes." I'd never heard a more depressing "yes" in my life.

I shrugged and turned to Ulrich. It wasn't my problem, after all.

_Scoop of the Century_

I was surprised to see Yumi show up at school one day wearing a hat. Not just a hat, either. A black, crushed velvet bucket hat. I was beginning to wonder if my debonair taste in fashion had perhaps rubbed off on her when we switched bodies when Ulrich got her to answer for me. "Nice hat," he said.

Yumi blushed a little and looked away; you know the deal. She took it off, fiddling with it. Everybody within sight gaped. Yumi Ishiyama, the bad girl queen, Miss I-wear-black-all-day-every-day, had gotten her hair dyed. Only a little, just red tips and roots and a blue streak. The effect was pretty cool, though. It made her look even more badassical than usual.

Tamiya was the only one around who was still interested in the hat. She plucked it from Yumi's fingers and inspected it, petting it. "This is nice... where did you get it, Yumi?" She looked up at the older girl with something like hero worship.

"A thrift shop... I've had it for a while, actually... I don't think they sell them anymore."

Tamiya's face fell and Yumi frowned. Then she bent down by the girl and whispered in her ear. The only thing I caught was "I'll give you the hat..." When Yumi straightened, Tamiya looked skeptical but still hopeful.

"Really?" she asked.

"Absolutely," Yumi agreed. "If it ever happens, this hat is yours."

Tamiya smiled. "Ok!" she chirped and bounced off.

Curious what that was all about, I shrugged and headed for class.

O-o-O-o-O

Have you ever done something stupid when you got mad? Like, I dunno, smashing something or punching someone? ...Have you ever kissed someone when you got upset with them?

I didn't think so.

I was already in a bad mood with the world (and especially Odd) that day. Thanks to Herb, I had tripped and fallen into the pool, and, of course, Odd had been right there with his usual wisecracks. And then I'd spilled soda on my favorite shirt! I mean, come on.

So when Odd happened to comment, "So, Sissi, got your landlegs?", I snapped. Ok, it was a dumb thing to snap over, but I was having a bad day!

What I did next I will admit was completely insane, but it was the first thing that popped into my head. I grabbed Odd by the shoulders and kissed him square on the mouth.

...Maybe the middle of the courtyard wasn't the best place to do it, but still.

I'm not sure if he was enjoying it (because he kissed back, a little) or if he was just too startled to react right away. Either way, it took him a few seconds to pull back, staring at me

It was only then that the idea that I had just done something a little bit _strange_ entered my head.

O-o-O-o-O

For about a minute, Sissi and I just stood there, staring at each other. To say it was awkward wouldn't even begin to describe it.

Then Tamiya broke the silence. "Yes! This means I get Yumi's hat!"

Me and Sissi were still looking at each other, but now our attention turned to her. In unison, we cried, "She made a bet on _my_ love life?" We looked back at each other.

"This is getting way too weird," I mumbled.

Yumi came over to Tamiya, placing the hat on her head. "Here I thought I'd get to keep it for at least the rest of the week..."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Sissi and I demanded, again in unison and again without thinking about it.

"Ok," I said, backing up. "What the hell just happened? Why did you kiss me?"

Sissi went red, toeing the ground. "Would you buy I don't really know?"

"Um..." I studied her for a second. "Actually, considering, yes."

"You piss me off, ok?" she mumbled.

I nodded slowly, hoping my smile wasn't too much of someone eyeing a psychopath.

Tamiya, who had been doing a happy dance about the hat, suddenly stopped. "I've got to tell Milly! This is the scoop of the century!" She ran off.

Sissi and I looked at each other again, and, for the third time that day, said something at the same time. "Get her!"

(That last was just silly, but the other two were pretty good, I think... so what do -you- think?)


End file.
